Microbes have previously been used in agriculture. Examples include those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,952,229; 6,232,270 and 5,266,096.
Chitin has also been used in agriculture either as a protein complex (U.S. Pat. No. 4,536,207) or in combination with various microbes (U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,524,998 and 6,060,429)
Chitosan in combination with other components has been used in agricultural applications. See e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,649,566; 4,812,159; 6,407,040; 5,374,627 and 5,733,851. It has also been used to treat cereal crop seeds. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,978,381. U.S. Pat. No. 6,524,998 also discloses that chitosan can be used in combination with specific microbes for agricultural use.
HYTb alone or in combination with HYTc and the microbial composition HYTa are useful in the treatment of soil, seed, seedlings and foliage as disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 61/355,447 filed Jun. 16, 2010 entitled Microbial Process and Composition for Agricultural Use and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/160,333 filed Jun. 14, 2011 entitled Microbial Process and Composition, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, there is a need to provide improved compositions and processes that improve crop yield and reduce the amount of conventional fungicides and insecticides used in agricultural and horticultural applications.